Days Of Blood
by Shadowdragon422
Summary: Tsunade has placed an order to the village ninja to pair up and get ready for a mission.  What she doesn't know is that Orochimaru is planning another attack.  But then so are the Akatsuki.
1. The Note

**Chapter One: The Note**

The warm sun crept over mountains over Konoha. In the distance the crow of a rooster could be heard. Many people were still asleep, with the exception of one certain Jonin. Kakashi stood on the roof of a tall building, watching the sun rise. From his angle it seemed that the faces of the past Hokages were glowing with a powerful radiance. Kakashi breathed in a heavy sigh, his slivery hair blowing in the cool, morning breeze. He glanced down to the street to see a few shop owners preparing their shops for the day. He caught the scent of the Icaraku Raman Shop making their morning recipe.

"Well," he said out loud, "time for breakfast."

Elsewhere in the village, in a small apartment, the light of the sun was just creeping into the windows of those that rested there. One room however was so clustered and messy that it was surprise that light could even enter. Most homes of ninja were rather untidy but this particular ninja, well; let's just say his home is like this everyday. The young boy felt the warm light on his face and stirred slightly. He opened his eyes, sat up, and blinked a few times before yawning and getting up. After a quick shower, and some breakfast, he got dressed and stepped outside. He locked his door, took a few steps back and hopped on his roof. He looked around, smiled, and then said, quite loudly, "Get ready world, Naruto Uzumaki is awake and ready to roll!" If you listen carefully you can hear groans coming from all over the village.

Naruto walked down the street looking to see what every one was up to. He pasted a food shop and noticed Choji munching away at whatever he was eating, which could be any number of things. He also noticed Asuma sitting across from him which suggested that he was paying for the food. As he continued walking down the road Naruto spotted Kiba standing in front of a book store looking at something posted on the window. He ran over to talk to him. "Hey, Kiba!" Naruto said out loud. Akamaru barked happily as Naruto neared them.

"Hey, Naruto come check this out!"

"What is it?"

"It's a note from the Hokage."

"What does it say?"

"It says 'Attention all ninja of the genin and chunin rank. This is a contest to determine who is most suitable with a partner. For registration and rules please see me in my office. Signed, The Fifth Hogake, Tsunade.'"

"A contest, huh?"

"Hey, it says with a partner. Wanna go sign up together?"

"Sure! Ever since we all went after Sasuke we've been on all kinds of mission's together, right?"

"Yeah! Let's go!"

So Naruto and Kiba, and Akamaru, ran straight to the Hokage's office. But they weren't the only ones. Every genin and chunin in Konoha was there. There were even a few Jonin, too.

"Well now that everyone is here I'll explain the rules." Tsunade said. "First, you must find a partner that you can cooperate with. Second, it can be anyone from our village or the village of sand. They will be arriving later. Lastly, it has to be with someone of opposite gender." There was look of surprise on nearly everyone's face. Kakashi glanced up from his book; Guy was almost about to jump out of his pants in excitement, and Iruka, for some reason, looked worried. Both Naruto and Kiba were upset. They worked very well with each other. Lee was about as excited as Guy, Neji seemed irritated, and Shikamaru, as always, could care less about the whole situation. "Any Questions?" she asked. No one said anything. "Okay then, go partner up then return here for mission details." With that Tsunade dismissed everyone. After everyone had left Shizune approached Tsunade, "What is the point of all this?" she asked her.

"I'm curious to see who bonds well with whom. Besides, this is excellent betting material."

"Lady Tsunade…"


	2. Pick Your Partner

I should have put this on last chapter but here it is. This is my first fanfic so be nice with your reviews. If you see areas where I can improve however, please let me know. Thanks and enjoy.

**Chapter Two: Pick Your Partner**

Naruto sat on a bench in the park thinking to himself. Who would be the right person to partner up with me? Sakura? No, she hates me, what about… no… Ino hates me too. I don't really know Tenten, is there anyone else? Naruto's brain hurt from all the thinking he was doing, which for him was both good and bad. Just then a certain perverted novelist sat down next to Naruto. He looked over at him then asked, "What's up Naruto?"

"Oh, hey pervy-sage. Tsunade told us to partner up with someone of opposite gender for some sort of mission, but I haven't found anyone to partner up with."

"Oh? What's her game this time?"

"Huh?" Naruto looked very confused.

"Stay here. I'll be right back."

Jiriaya headed to Tsunade's office, as he did however he noticed several ninja asking for partnership from other ninja. One such case was a man, and judging from his appearance he was probably a chunin, asking a woman, chunin too, out on a date as well as the whole partnership thing. Slick devil, he told himself. When he came up to the door of the Hokage's office he didn't even knock, he just walked right inside. Tsunade was sitting at her desk look thru some papers; she didn't acknowledge that he was there.

"All right," he said, "spill it. What are you up to?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Tsunade, look, Naruto is sitting on a bench, in the park, beating himself up over trying to find a girl. I want to know what the hell you're planning!"

"Okay, I'll tell you. But you must swear that you won't tell anyone, especially Naruto."

"Okay, I swear. Now, what is going on?"

"Alright, you know that some ninja here have had the same partner for every mission since the whole Sasuke incident, I mean Naruto and Kiba have gone on four different missions together! And here's the thing, most of them went with people of the same gender. So I decided to make them find a partner that they can work with that is not of the same gender. Make sense?"

"I guess so, but you do know that Naruto has no luck with the girls here, right?"

"Don't worry about that. I've already taken care of that."

"Oh really? Who'd you get?"

Back at the park Naruto was waiting for Jiriaya to return when he heard a sound behind him.

"Bout' time you got back pervy…" Naruto paused when he realized it wasn't Jiriaya he was talking to. "Oh, hi there Hinata."

"Um… h-hello Naruto. How are you?"

"I'm fine, what's up?"

"Um…I…uh wanted to…um…know…if…if…"

"OH! Hinata I got a question for you."

"Y-yes?"

"Do you want to be my partner for the mission?"

Hinata was surprised. Of course Naruto, my love, she said to herself, but she couldn't bring herself to it out loud. "umm…well…I guess so." She squeeked.

"Great! Let's go tell old lady Tsunade." And before Hinata could say any more Naruto grabbed her hand and they ran to the Hokage's office. It was only then when realized something, _Naruto_ grabbed _her_ hand.

Jiriaya was just about to leave when suddenly Naruto, with Hinata in tow, burst open the door. "Hey Grandma, I got a partner now, so what's the mission?" he asked so loudly that people in the street probably heard him. Tsunade didn't know if she should be glad that Naruto found a partner, surprised that he found her so quickly, or furious that he, once again, called her grandma in public. Jiriaya chuckled at Naruto's statement just before he felt the book that Tsunade tossed in his direction.

"Very good you two, now here is your mission. Naruto, Hinata, I want you two to do a survival mission. Fourteen days of in the woods survival. Of course you won't be alone. You may find one couple to camp with you or you can go alone." It was at that moment that a knock came from the door.

"I'll get it" Jiriaya said. He opened the door, in front of him was boy in a green suit, a bowl haircut, and really big eyebrows. Next to him was girl with pink hair and a big forehead. "Yes?"

"I do not believe we have the honor of meeting each other. I am the village's handsome devil, they call me Rock Lee." And with that he gave a thumbs up, winked, and smiled with teeth so white they gleamed. This must Guy's student, looks more like his own son, Jiriaya said to himself.

"And you are…?"

"My name is Sakura Haruno." She stated flatly, obviously embarrassed by Lee's actions.

"Well, I'm Jiriaya, well actually they call me The Great Jiriaya, Master of the Frog Summoning Jutsu!" He said with great satisfaction.

"What a minute." Said Lee as he pulled out a book from his pouch. He flipped thru the pages and finally found what he was looking for. "You are not only a master of frog summoning but you are also a one of the legendary Sannin! Oh, could you share your knowledge of past battles with me some time?"

"Lee, Sakura, get in here before you miss out on a nice opportunity." Tsunade said from inside her office.

As they entered Sakura noticed Naruto with Hinata. "Oh wow, you two are partners?" she asked.

"Yep." Naruto said. Hinata sheepish nodded. Naruto then asked Sakura, "You're with bushy-brows? How'd that happen?"

"Well to put it simply there was no one else to pick. Sasuke is gone, Choji is with Ino, Shikamaru is with Temari, oh yeah the sand village has arrived, where was I? Oh, yeah, Neji has Tenten, so really Lee was all there was left."

"Enough!" Tsunade exclaimed. "Here's the deal you all have to go on a survival mission for fourteen days. During which you must discover something. I'm not going to tell you what it is but you will know it once you have found it. Now then you four may go together or with your own partner. Decide now!"

The four genin gathered around in a circle to discuss the plan. After much arguing, and threaten from Sakura to Naruto, they arrived to their decision. "We will travel together."

"Excellent. Now go home and pack supplies, you know, kunais, shurrikens, scrolls, trapping equipment, bedrolls, those sorts of things. Meet at the north gate at 8:00 tomorrow morning. You are dismissed."

Soon they all went to their own homes to pack everything they needed for the mission. Naruto grabbed his bag and put in his weapons, all freshly sharpened, as well his bedroll and some scrolls that Jiriaya gave him to study. They must have some really good jutsu on them if that pervy sage gave them to me, he thought to himself.

Sakura also packed her weapons and bedroll. She also packed trapping gear. She used to trap critters to keep them out of her garden so she was pretty good at it.

Lee checked his pack to make sure he had everything he would need for this mission. Weapons, check. Bedroll, check. Book containing information on which herbs were poisonous and which were not, check. Am I forgetting anything? OH! I cannot believe that almost forgot this! I would surely parish if I did not bring this with me. He held up a picture Guy-sensei giving a thumbs up, there was note on the bottom that read; Good luck Lee, Signed Guy.

Hinata also making sure she had not forgotten anything. Just then her father walked in, "Hinata," He said, "come here." She walked into the room where her father was sitting. She sat on the mat in front of him. "Hinata, who is your partner?"

"Naruto, sir."

"I see. Is there anyone else going with you two?"

"Yes, Sakura and Lee."

"Lee? From Neji's team?"

"Yes sir."

"I see. Neji, come in here." Neji, Hinata's cousin, stepped into the room and sat down next to Hinata. "How much do you know about these three?"

Neji thought for a moment then said, "I don't know much about Sakura except that she is in Kakashi's team along with Naruto and Sasuke." At the mention of Sasuke Neji put his hand on the left part of his chest where the sound ninja had shot him with an arrow while he and the other genin tried to save Sasuke. The wound had nearly healed, there was only a mark left to show where it was. It hurt from time to time but mostly it reminded not only him but everyone that Neji Hyuga was willing to give his life for Konoha. "As for Lee, well, he is an expert in taijutsu, he is very respectful, not exactly the smartest of all people, but he will fight to the death to protect those he cares about."

"What about this Naruto person?"

"Naruto is headstrong, arrogant, at times an idiot," Hinata looked very downcast. If Neji didn't approve of Naruto then her father wouldn't either. Neji continued, "He is an impatient, hyperactive loudmouth with ADD and I wouldn't trust my life with…anyone other than him." Hinata's father looked very stunned, even Hinata herself was surprised. "He may be a headache at times but Naruto is one of the few people I would trust with my life. Though it may be a strange idea to say this I feel that it will be true. Naruto Uzumaki will become the Hokage." With that Neji got up and left to pack his things for his mission with Tenten.

"Hinata," her father said to her, "you have my permission to go on this mission. Good luck." He dismissed her and she returned to her room. Naruto, she said to herself, if only you knew how much people respect you now. And if only you knew my feelings for you…

At the end of the day all four genin were asleep. Naruto slept sprawled out on his bed, Lee was still in his green suit, Sakura was in a pink nightgown and her hair in a bun, and Hinata slept in a blue nightgown. No one had any idea that the next day would begin what would be forever called in Konoha as The Days of Blood.

Hey please review!


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